Page 294 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2019. Vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju - The Role of National Opera Houses in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 3
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vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju
ble Viennese musicians” offering positions for an oboist, a flautist, clari-
nettist, a bassoonist and a harpist.3 On 15 July 1908, at the recommendation
of Vítězslav Novák and Josef Suk, both teachers at the Prague Conservato-
ry, Václav Talich was selected from among numerous candidates to be the
conductor of the newly established orchestra.4 In July 1908 the orchestra
performed under its old name Ljubljanska društvena godba, while in Sep-
tember of that year it performed as the Ljubljanski koncertni orkester (Lju-
bljana Concert Orchestra). Shortly after the general meeting of the Glasbe-
na matica on 23 October 1908 and the official renaming of the orchestra as
the Orkester Slovenske filharmonije, the management of the latter liaised
with the Slovene Provincial Theatre and secured exclusive rights to accom-
pany performances there. In this way, the orchestra was assured of work in
the event that it failed to attract sufficient audiences to its symphonic con-
certs. An agreement of this kind was, of course, also in the interests of the
Slovene Provincial Theatre, since in this period both the Slovene theatre
and the German theatre were constantly faced with serious economic diffi-
culties and personnel problems. The increasingly frequent cancellations by
the military orchestra, on which operatic performances had depended be-
fore this time, were greatly hindering the smooth functioning of Slovene
operatic production. A permanent chorus and orchestra were of vital im-
portance for the realisation of the theatre’s ambitions. With a permanent
company, operas could be revived with less rehearsal, and were therefore
less of a financial burden. It also meant more time to study new roles, whi-
ch enabled a gradual broadening of the operatic repertoire.
A comparative analysis of the repertoires of the Slovene and German
theatres in the early twentieth century5 shows that the management of the
Slovene theatre, in particular, took an important step forward in this pe-
riod, not only staging works from the standard repertoire that were alre-
ady known to audiences from the programme of the German Provincial
Theatre, but, even more importantly, enriching Ljubljana with productions
of new and hitherto unknown musical-dramatic works. Hoping to encou-
rage the production of original works by Slovene composers, the Slovene
Provincial Theatre broadened its repertoire to include works by Croatian,
Czech, Polish and other composers (e.g. Nikola Šubić Zrinjski by Ivan Zajc,
3 A copy of the invitation is held in the archives of the Slovenian Philharmonic at the
National and University Library.
4 Kokole, “Václav Talich and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (1908–1912),” 175.
5 Špela Lah, “Slovensko-nemška dihotomija v Deželnem gledališču v Ljubljani med le-
toma 1892 in 1914,” Muzikološki zbornik 46 (2010), 2: 95–108.
292
ble Viennese musicians” offering positions for an oboist, a flautist, clari-
nettist, a bassoonist and a harpist.3 On 15 July 1908, at the recommendation
of Vítězslav Novák and Josef Suk, both teachers at the Prague Conservato-
ry, Václav Talich was selected from among numerous candidates to be the
conductor of the newly established orchestra.4 In July 1908 the orchestra
performed under its old name Ljubljanska društvena godba, while in Sep-
tember of that year it performed as the Ljubljanski koncertni orkester (Lju-
bljana Concert Orchestra). Shortly after the general meeting of the Glasbe-
na matica on 23 October 1908 and the official renaming of the orchestra as
the Orkester Slovenske filharmonije, the management of the latter liaised
with the Slovene Provincial Theatre and secured exclusive rights to accom-
pany performances there. In this way, the orchestra was assured of work in
the event that it failed to attract sufficient audiences to its symphonic con-
certs. An agreement of this kind was, of course, also in the interests of the
Slovene Provincial Theatre, since in this period both the Slovene theatre
and the German theatre were constantly faced with serious economic diffi-
culties and personnel problems. The increasingly frequent cancellations by
the military orchestra, on which operatic performances had depended be-
fore this time, were greatly hindering the smooth functioning of Slovene
operatic production. A permanent chorus and orchestra were of vital im-
portance for the realisation of the theatre’s ambitions. With a permanent
company, operas could be revived with less rehearsal, and were therefore
less of a financial burden. It also meant more time to study new roles, whi-
ch enabled a gradual broadening of the operatic repertoire.
A comparative analysis of the repertoires of the Slovene and German
theatres in the early twentieth century5 shows that the management of the
Slovene theatre, in particular, took an important step forward in this pe-
riod, not only staging works from the standard repertoire that were alre-
ady known to audiences from the programme of the German Provincial
Theatre, but, even more importantly, enriching Ljubljana with productions
of new and hitherto unknown musical-dramatic works. Hoping to encou-
rage the production of original works by Slovene composers, the Slovene
Provincial Theatre broadened its repertoire to include works by Croatian,
Czech, Polish and other composers (e.g. Nikola Šubić Zrinjski by Ivan Zajc,
3 A copy of the invitation is held in the archives of the Slovenian Philharmonic at the
National and University Library.
4 Kokole, “Václav Talich and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (1908–1912),” 175.
5 Špela Lah, “Slovensko-nemška dihotomija v Deželnem gledališču v Ljubljani med le-
toma 1892 in 1914,” Muzikološki zbornik 46 (2010), 2: 95–108.
292
